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Sofia Gubaidulina · Chamber music with double bass When I started playing the double bass many years ago, I developed certain intuitions of what it could be: music for the double bass. The elemental power of the dark, earthy tone, but especially the random sounds, noises and overtone spectra fired my imagination. Over time I have performed many compositions that make artistic use of the possibilities of the double bass. In the work of Sofia Gubaidulina, however, I found music that exploits the essence of my instrument in a previously unknown depth and truthfulness. Here I was able to rediscover my sound fantasies from the past – ingeniously condensed into musical form. The present recordings appear on the occasion of Sofia Gubaidulina's 80th birthday. Especially in recent years, the composer has increasingly composed music for double bass and has written new versions of some of her works with double bass. Through our recording, these works can be heard in their entirety for the first time. In addition, the development of Sofia Gubaidulina's work over five decades can be followed here. The following thoughts are based on personal conversations with the composer as well as on the biography of Michael Kurtz (Urachhaus, 2001) and the book Numerical mysticism in the music of Sofia Gubaidulina by Valeria Zenowa (Kuhn/Sikorski, 2001). »I am convinced that musical instruments, beyond their mastery by humans, have many more sounds in their nature and want to express them. But human arrogance makes us go on with our routine of forcing the instruments to play from the notes, and we forget to elicit from them the notes they really want to play.” (Kazue Sawai) Feeling and releasing the tones that are inherent in the very essence of the instruments, this ability of Sofia Gubaidulina characterizes her music significantly. Their approach to the instruments is similar to that of living beings. She uses all her senses to explore their characteristics. Through her extraordinarily strong spiritual abilities, which are fed by a deep religiosity, she succeeds in recognizing the soul of an instrument and giving it a voice. "I want to liberate matter and give form a law." (Sofia Gubaidulina) The feeling for perfect proportions is already evident in Sofia Gubaidulina's early works. At the beginning of the 1980s she arrived at new solutions by examining the music theory of Pjotr Meschtschaninow. In particular, it is the idea of developing the entire musical material from a single law that characterizes the composer's work from now on. The Fibonacci series is of central importance, in which each number forms the sum of the two previous ones: 0-1-1-2-3-5-8-13-21 etc. This series approaches the golden ratio as it progresses and occurs as a construction principle in a variety of forms in nature, e.g. B. in the arrangement of petals or branches on trees. Matter, liberated by intuition and imagination, meets the law of numbers and the so-called number subject emerges: »Then one leaves work, goes into the forest and imagines the play of the points of the golden ratio, their 'dancing'; without you wanting it, the numbers turn into real layers of sound, and the music begins to flow!” (Sofia Gubaidulina) This numerical mysticism is not an esoteric gimmick, but a necessary means to enable the music to evolve naturally and thus make it an image of divine creation. »I bowed a string and suddenly, in the same moment, I felt that this sound is my soul.« (Sofia Gubaidulina) In 1975 Sofia Gubaidulina founded the improvisation group Astreja together with Vyacheslav Artyomov and Viktor Suslin, which existed until 1981. In this ›composer laboratory‹, the three practiced free improvisation on a variety of folklore instruments and thus broadened the horizon of their creativity. Already the Five Etudes for harp, double bass and percussion from 1965 show elements of improvisation. Since then, metrically free sections or passages of complete improvisational freedom have been an important part of their works. Some recordings have survived from the Astreja improvisations: they were an important source of inspiration in the preparation of this project, because the influence of working with Astreja on the works of Sofia Gubaidulina is unmistakable. “The fact that this matter is organic and not mechanical became particularly evident. And killing an organism is so easy! A few selfish impulses, a few careless movements - and it's all over.« (Victor Suslin) In his statement, Suslin refers to his work with Astreja, but it also applies to the interpretation of Sofia Gubaidulina's music. The frequently recurring element of flageolet glissandi can serve as an example: their execution amounts to playing with chance as a duo partner, in which random sequences of sounds constantly require spontaneous reactions in order to keep the sound fabric intact and to spin it on. In any case, the structure of this music, despite its elemental power, is very fragile: only what is absolutely necessary is written down, everything else wants to be discovered and felt by constantly questioning the score. The simplicity of the notation works like a protective mirror against which the first glance of the viewer slips and which gives no hint of the richness of the structures. Ideally, the sound of Sofia Gubaidulina's music resembles a tree that is centuries old: its proportions are perfect, but the seasons, wind and weather have shaped it and further shaped its character. It is easy to grasp and at the same time impenetrably complex in its cosmos of shapes and colors. His nature can be experienced in many different ways, but he guards his secret. Martin Heinze |
program:
CD 1
total time 58:38
Five studies for harp, double bass and percussion (1965) 12:28
[01] I Largo 03:09
[02] II Allegretto 02:10
[03] III Adagio 02:31
[04] IV Allegro disperato 01:37
[05] V Andante 03:01
Elsie Bedleem, harp Martin Heinze, double bass Jan Schlichte, percussion
[06] Pantomime for double bass and piano (1966) 09:25
Adagio - Allegro - Largo
Martin Heinze, double bass · Heike Gneiting, piano
Eight Studies for double bass (1974/2009) 23:19
[07] I staccato-legato 01:41
[08] II legato - staccato 03:18
[09] III espressivo – sotto voce 02:18
[10] IV ricochet 02:16
[11] V sul ponticello – ordinario – sul tasto 03:09
[12] VI al taco – da punta d'arco 01:40
[13] VII pizzicato – arco 03:10
[14] VIII senza arco 05:47
Martin Heinze, double bass
[15] Sonata for double bass and piano (1975) 13:02
Martin Heinze, double bass · Heike Gneiting, piano
CD 2
total time 56:39
[01] In Croce for double bass and bayan (1979/2009) 15:26
Martin Heinze, double bass Elsbeth Moser, bayan
[02] Almost Hoquetus for viola, double bass and piano (1984/2008) 15:00 p.m
Ulrich Knörzer, viola · Martin Heinze, double bass · Heike Gneiting, piano
Silence for bayan, violin and double bass (1991/2010) 19:51
[03] I 04:00
[04] II 03:29
[05] III 02:51
[06] IV 01:30
[07] V 08:01
Elsbeth Moser, bayan Lisa Marie Landgraf, violin Martin Heinze, double bass
[08] An angel Song for alto and double bass, on a poem by Else Lasker-Schüler (1994) 05:59
Vanessa Barkowski, mezzo-soprano · Martin Heinze, double bass
CD 3
total time 71:59
Gallows songs à 3 (Gallow's Songs) 47:20
15 pieces for mezzo-soprano, percussion and double bass (1996)
on poems by Christian Morgenstern
[01] The Midnight Mouse 03:34
[02] The thinking 02:58
[03] The aesthetic weasel 01:49
[04] The knee 02:29
[05] The game I 01:57
[06] The game II 02:46
[07] Worm's Confession 02:33
[08] The psalm 02:23
[09] The dance 07:01
[10] The prayer 03:53
[11] The Feast of the Libertine 02:35
[12] Improvisation 01:53
[13] Fish night song 01:48
[14] Nein! 02:39
[15] The moon sheep 07:02
Vanessa Barkowski, mezzo-soprano Jan Schlichte, percussion · Martin Heinze, double bass
[16] Pentimento for double bass and three guitars (2007) 24:32
Martin Heinze, double bass Guitar Ensemble Quasi Fantasia
Press:
10.2013
no. 93/2012
codeex.blog.de
Martin Heinze KlangArt Berlin and friends: Sofia Gubaidulina – Chamber Music with Double Bass
Posted by Nils-Christian Engel in CD of the Month, New Releases, Review
Our guest reviewer Nils-Christian Engel studied Protestant theology in Tübingen, Prague, Leipzig and Halle (Saale). He works as a PR journalist, preferably on string themes, with the personal enthusiasm of an amateur cellist.
Sofia Gubaidulina (*1931) and her extensive, multifaceted oeuvre are receiving special attention this year on the occasion of the great composer's 80th birthday. At Neos, Martin Heinze is now presenting a comprehensive collection of her works for double bass - a treat for the ear and mind that lasts more than three hours and also holds surprises for those who have already discovered Gubaidulina's music for themselves.
The pieces for double bass, which are recorded here for the first time in their entirety, range from her artistic beginnings to the present day: a journey through the almost five decades of her free compositional work, which also offers a good introduction to the sound worlds of Sofia Gubaidulina. Last but not least, Heinze delivers with these three CDs a strong plea for the bass, which as a soloist and in chamber music must still be counted among the underappreciated instruments, and whose wealth of tonal possibilities is impressively audible here.
It is no coincidence that Sofia Gubaidulina's music also refutes the very last resentment of grumpy bass clumsiness - on the contrary, because in which hands would a marginal existence like the double bass be better kept? It is precisely this composer's extraordinary talent to open up more sound spaces for each instrument she writes for than it was previously familiar with. This feeling for the instrumentally possible and the curiosity are not only the starting point of her music, but also belong to her central compositional procedures - an important reason why Sofia Gubaidulina reaches an astonishingly large audience at the same time as she is interesting for so many musicians who " Sound fantasies from the past ... ingeniously condensed into musical form", as Martin Heinze describes it in his insightful and personal accompanying text. This rarely happens to the double bass player, and it is a fortunate coincidence that the listener is also touched by this highly modern musical art.
Because beyond the complex artistic structures in Sofia Gubaidulina's work, which are gradually being appropriately appreciated by musicologists, it is the open, organic character that characterizes her tonal language and has an accessibility that is not exactly found in contemporary music says. Where Heinze praises the constitutive space for improvisation opened up to the interpreting musician, the ear can experience something like a poetry of hearing; and the invitation to do so is readily and happily accepted on this release, if only for the variety of themes and the ensembles in which the bass makes its voice heard.
At the beginning there are Five Etudes for harp, double bass and percussion from 1965, Gubaidulina's first artistic publication, which is not only a testament to her early mastery, but also a document of the quiet and completely uncompromising incompatibility with the socialist art doctrine, because of which she was only seen with difficulty until the mid-1980s able to work and live under conditions. It is interesting to note as the chronological program progressed that the double bass returned regularly: in 1966 with the Pantomime for bass and piano, 1974 with the Eight Etudes for double bass and a year later with the Sonata for double bass and piano.
The second CD documents Gubaidulina's long and deep occupation with the Russian button accordion bayan, like the double bass an outsider among the instruments and probably the most prominent "musical salvation" of the composer. In Cross from 1979 for bass and bayan, but especially Silence for bayan, violin and double bass from 1991 are highlights of this collection, which also offer broad perspectives on other prominent works by Gubaidulina, such as her violin concerto in present tensewhich Silence touched in some places.
Besides Almost Hoquetus from 1984 for viola, bass and piano, the second CD brings the song An angel for alto and bass, the 1994 setting of a poem by Else Lasker-Schüler, which was part of the 15 gallows songs by Christian Morgenstern on the third CD, the latter composed in 1996 for mezzo-soprano, percussion and double bass. The program comes to a brilliant conclusion in Pentimento from 2007, the editing of Repentance, a composition originally written for cello and guitar quartet. As such, it is further impressive proof of how the open mutability of the perception of sound in Gubaidulina's work finds compositional structures that are constant, even lawful, without ever becoming rigid.
The joy of interpreting such music can be heard throughout this magnificent reference recording for the double bass. Martin Heinze realized it with colleagues who not only have the necessary high level of playing ability, but above all the artistic maturity to deal with such music, which Heinze aptly characterizes as having elemental power but at the same time being very fragile. That the guitar quartet Quasi Fantasia premiered Repentance played and the bayanist Elsbeth Moser the dedicatee of Silence is, only needs to be mentioned as an addition. It seems that the semi-open, network-like structure of the KlangArt Berlin ensemble, which Martin Heinze forms together with percussionist Jan Schlichte and pianist Heike Gneiting, is a good basis for a project like this, especially when it comes to music that bound by nothing other than the freedom of art.
Our CD of the month in November 2011.